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Macross, Orguss, Wizardry Composer Haneda Dies at 58

Kentarō Haneda, the composer of Macross and several other animated and live-action works, died on June 2 at 11:53 p.m. JST of liver cancer. He was 58. An all-night vigil will be held on June 6 at 6:00 p.m. and a memorial service will be held the following day at 10:00 a.m. He leaves behind his wife Sachiko.

Haneda composed the music for The Super Dimension Fortress Macross television series from 1982 to 1983, for which he won the Japanese Anime Grand Prize for Music. He also composed the anime music for Treasure Island (1978), Space Adventure Cobra (1982), The Super Dimension Century Orguss (1983), the Final Yamato film (1983), the Barefoot Gen film (1983) and its sequel (1987), God Mazinger (1984), Detective Holmes (1984), The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? film (1984), Brother, Dear Brother (1991), and the Doraemon: Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King film (2000).

Outside animation, he composed the Wizardry game series in Japan and worked on the Gensō Suikōden game series, as well as 1980's Virus film, 1984's Bye Bye Jupiter film, 2003's Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger series, the eight seasons of the Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari home drama (1990-2006), and several other live-action works. From April of 2000 until last month before his hospitalization, he hosted the Sunday morning TV Asahi program Daimei no Nai Ongaku-Kai 21 (literally, The Untitled Concert). He was known for his blending of classical, jazz, and popular music styles and for his live performance on several television programs.

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